Did Cleopatra’s Nose, Helen’s Face, Henry the VIII’s Libido, Richard III’s Horse Make Crucial Historical Differences?

I love the “what if’s” of history, and try to teach them to my son and my students as a way of drawing them into the dramas of history. My son’s middle school history book made the rise and fall of empires seem inevitable, determined by great forces beyond the control of any one individual. But history is much more fun and interesting when you see that …